Blotter



m. KOHN BLOTTER Filed Dec 11. 1922 ing the blotter.

Patented July 7, 1925.

entree sra'ras 1,54%,a9t PATENT QFtlCE.

KOBY KOHN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN HYLAND, OF NEW YORK, N- Y.

BLOTTER.

Application filed Decem er 11, 1.922. Serial No. 606,257.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, KoisY KoHN, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and use ful Improvements in Blotters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to blotters of the type composed of sheets ofblotting paper such as are universally used on desks where writing is done or papers are signed. It is adapted and intended to greatly improve the structural characteristicsof such blotters whereby they may be more easily located when wanted, may be more easily grasped by the hand of the user may be more easily, certainly and effectively applied to the exact point on the paper intended, which will avoid any slight sliding or lateral movement on the writing surface during application and removal thus preventing damage to the writing which often happens with the ordinary blotter and which will last much longer than blotters now in use. One very important novel feature of the blotter embodying the present invention is that its surfaces are normally curved or bowed and that the curvature or bow form is yieldingly maintained by the resiliency of the material of which the blotter is composed whereby when flattened or distorted and then released it will return to its normal curved form, in other words it is self-sustaining. In addition to the advantages above noted this curvature permits the user to observe the exact location of the writing and its re lation to the" part of the blotter which will make contact with it as the blotter is being applied and sincethe blotter when released will automatically resume its curved form its surface used in blotting contact will automatically move upward out of contact without any lateral movement thus avoiding any danger of damaging the writing in remov- The novel features of the invention will be more fully understood from the following description and claims taken with the accompanying drawings:

In the drawings: I Figure 1 1s a perspective view of a blotter 7 embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional View of the blotter shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional View of another form of the invention.

The ordinary flat sheet blotters at present in practically universal use have many objectional features or characteristics. Being flat and thin and comparatively small and light it frequently disappears after use due to the movement of papers on the desk and when it is next wanted much time and patience is likely to be consumed in searching for it under and between the various light papers on the desk. If found lying flat on the surface of the desk it is diflicult to get a fingerhold on it to lift it, because of its thinness and because its close fit makes it resist sudden upward movement due to the tendency to the creation of a vacuum by that movement. Because of this and its fragile nature the user is likely to deform or tear its edge in the effort to pick it up before he is able to so grasp it as to lift it for use. In applying it to written matter it conceals the writing before reaching the surface on which it appears and thus it is difiicult to determine with certainty the exact portion of the blotter which is directly over the newly written matter and to which pressure should be applied in order to satisfactorily cause the blotting. It is furthermore impossible to determine whether the blotting action is complete or satisfactorywithout lifting and removing the blotter and this removal frequently damages the writing because of slight lateral movement in lifting it where all of the ink in the writing has not been absorbed by the blotter.

The blotter of the present invention overcomes the above noted objections to the old fiat blotters by reason of the fact that it is curved to a bow form and will resiliently return to its curved form after being fiattened in use. Being curved it cannot be lost or mislaid on the desk since the ends are always elevated when it is lying with-its convex side down and its center is always ele vated when it is lying with its convex side up. In other words because of its bow form, in one position it rests on its end portions like an arch, and in the reverse position on the convexisurface at the center por tion of the bow. If it should happen to be grasp it between the fingers when it is desired to use it since there is always some edge elevated above the supporting surface of the table which may be easily grasped. When the convex side of the blotter is used one end will be elevated above the writing to be blotted after a portion of the blotter is in contact with the surface carrying the writing and will move downward in something like a rolling action and thus the writing will be visible to the user of the blotter until it approaches the writing quite closely and he can determine accurately under just what part of the blotter the part to be blotted is so as to apply special pressure at that point. As soon as the pressure is removed the resilient and spring like action of the blotter causes it to move upward away from the writing preventing any side or lateral movement which might damage the writing and this upward movement makes the writing visible to the user and before entirely releasing the blotter he may see that the blotting was not complete. In that case he may apply it again by the rolling action thus saving time in the operation. It will be understood that the present invention is not limited to any particular degree or kind of curvature which is given to the blotter since they may be of variousforms and shapes so long as there is the resilient curved surface for application to the writing.

Many ways may be used for giving a blotter or blotting paper permanent curva' ture and making it self-sustaining such as incorporating a stiffening medium with the ingredients comprising the paper during the mai'iufacture of it. On the other hand it is better to apply a stiffening medium after the blotting paper is made and this can be done before the paper is cut to the desired size or it can be done after it is cut to the desired size. The latter method is the one which I have followed so far and I have taken standard commercial size blotters, ap-

plied a stiffening medium to them, secured them to curved forms and then subjected them to heat for drying. In the form of the invention shown in Figures 1 and 2 the stiffening material which is of a starchy or mucilaginons nature is applied in fluid condition to the upper concave surface 10 and the blotter is then brought into the desired bowed or curved form and dried either artificially or by allowing it to stand exposed to the air for a sufiicient length of time in the curved shape. In this type of blotter the material composing it is of the ordinary material used in such blotters and the lower convex surface 11 has none of the stiffening material on it since that material is applied preferably to one side, as indicated at 12,,

although it may be applied to both sides. I have found that the consistency of the stiffening mediums used with blotters of different thicknesses give best results when they correspond in the sense that the stiffening should be thin when the blotter is thin since a thin blotter requires less starchy or mucilaginous material than a thick blotter. The mixture for example may vary from one part of the starchy element to parts of water to one part of starchy material to 10 parts of water. Many different mixtures of adhesive material may be used composed of various materials but I have secured most excellent results from a mixture composed of one part of what is known commercially as library paste mixed with 60 parts by bulk of water. In all cases best results are secured by applying only a small amount of the stiffening liquid to the surface of the blotter and by the term surface it is intended to mean that it does not penetrate the blotter to any appreciable depth but is mainly at the surface since it has been found that where it penetrates too far there is a tendency toward too great stiffness in the blotter. In Figure 3 the lower convex part 13 0f the blotter is composed of the usual blotting paper whereas the upper portion 14 is composed of non-absorptive material such as thin paper and in this respect it is like some blotters now on the market where advertisements are. printed on the non-absorbent, smooth top surface of the blotter. In making this type of blotter the blotter portion 13 may be brought .into curved form by means of the adhesive on the upper surface before being secured to the non-absorptive upper portion 1 1 or the two may be curved together after the adhesive is placed in position between them and allowed to dry in curved position. In this type of blotter the facing 1 f is usually secured to the blotting paper by means of paste and I have found that if while this paste is moist in making the blotter it is formed into a curved shape and dried it will have the resilient characteristics of the blotter constituting my invention and remain in that shape. I have even found that if this type is moistened on the blotter or lower side 13 with water only long enough to have the water penetrate and soften the adhesive the blotter can then be formed and dried and transformed into one embodying my present invention.

Having thus described my invention What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. As an article of manufacture, a selfsustaining resilient sheet composed prin cipally of blotting paper and permanently curved to a bow form, whereby in one position the article normally rests on its end portions like an arch, and in the reverse po sition normally rests on the convex surface at the center portion of the bow.

2. As an article of manufacture, a sheet of blotting paper curved to a bow form having intimately associated with it throughout one surface means for causing it to resiliently resist bending and to resume its curved form after bending.

3. As an article of manufacture, a curved sheet of blotting paper having in it at one surface a material thoroughly distributed among and adhering to its fibers at said sur face causing it to resiliently resist bending and to resume its curved form after bending.

4. As an article of manufacture, a curved sheet of blotting paper having in it at one surface a solid adhesive material thoroughly distributed among and adhering to its fibers at said surface causing it to resiliently resist bending and to resume its curved form after bending. V

5. As an article of manufacture, a curved sheet of blotting paper having in it at one surface a starchy or mucilaginous material in solid form thoroughly distributed among and adhering to its fibers at said surface causing it to resiliently resist bending and to resume its curved form after bending.

6. As an article of manufacture, a self sustaining curved resilient sheet composed principally of blotting paper With a thin sheet of non-absorbent material fitting and secured toone face of said first mentioned sheet. a

7. As an article of manufacture, a curved sheet of blotting paper having in it at one surface a material thoroughly distributed among and adhering to its fibers at said surface causing it to resiliently resist bending and to resume its curved form after bending With a thin sheet of non-absorbent material fitting and secured to one face of said first mentioned sheet.

8. As an article of manufacture, a selfsustaining sheet composed principally of blotting paper curved to a bow formhaving intimately associated therewith, throughout its concave surface, means for causing it to resiliently resist bending and to resume its curved form after bending.

In testimony Whereof I hereunto afiix my signature.

KOBY KOHN 

